Trump hikes tariffs as US adds 178K jobs and unemployment falls in March
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly discusses the March jobs report, the impact of the Iran conflict on inflation and more on ‘Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.’
President Donald Trump on Friday released an unexpectedly high March jobs report following February’s job losses.
“A happy and blessed Good Friday to all, especially to the 186,000 Americans who found Private Industry jobs in the month of March alone!” the president wrote on Friday. “My Economic Policies have created a very powerful engine of Economic Growth, and nothing can slow it down.”
Trump added that “Factory Jobs are increasing due to rapid investment and TARIFFS generated growth, while the Trade Deficit is down 52% year over year!”
The US added 178,000 jobs in March, including a loss of 8,000 government jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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President Donald Trump on Friday released an unexpectedly high March jobs report following February’s job losses. (AP Photo/LM Otero / Associated Press)
The figure is almost three times what most economists are predicting.
The gains come after the country lost 133,000 jobs in February.
Unemployment also fell from 4.4% in February to 4.3% in March while the percentage of working adults fell to 61.9%, the lowest figure since November 2021.
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Revised payroll numbers for the past two months, the January report was revised up by 34,000 jobs from a gain of 126,000 to 160,000; and the February report was revised up by 41,000 jobs from a loss of 92,000 to 133,000.
Combined, employment in January and February was 7,000 jobs lower than previously reported.
President Donald Trump delivered on his economic policies with a positive March jobs report. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Getty)
It is not clear how the war in Iran will affect the jobs figures as some economists say the March numbers may not fully reflect the new conflict in the Middle East.
“The data is very backward-looking, and likely does not include any impact from recent increases in energy prices, or other risks related to the Iran war,” Thomas Simons, chief U.S. economist at investment firm Jefferies, wrote in an analysis.
The health care sector led the job gains in March, with 76,400 new jobs following the end of the Kaiser Permanente strike in February, as workers returned to work.
“This year will likely be a transformative year for the workforce as artificial intelligence upends the job market, especially for low-skill roles. We continue to see healthy job opportunities for skilled workers,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial.
Kaiser Permanente workers went on strike in February. (Mindy Schauer/MediaNewsGroup/Orange County Register via Getty Images/Getty Images)
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“Hourly earnings are up 3.5% from last year, giving consumers enough purchasing power to beat inflation. This update in the labor market gives the Federal Reserve more time to wait for inflation to slow down before acting,” added Roach.
Recent jobs data has done little to change market expectations that the Federal Reserve is likely to leave interest rates unchanged for the foreseeable future.
Fox Business’ Eric Revell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
